The Gophers (15-17, 7-13 Big Ten) ended their season with a 72-64 loss to Northwestern in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday in Indianapolis, leading to the firing of head coach Ben Johnson. (Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Gophers fired men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson early Thursday morning, following his third losing Big Ten season in four years, a decision which will cost the University of Minnesota a $2.93 million buyout of his contract.

The Gophers finished 15-17 and ended their season with a 72-64 loss to Northwestern in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday in Indianapolis.

Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle met with Johnson after the basketball team returned to Minnesota from Indianapolis around midnight Thursday.

“I thanked him for his dedication and for guiding the program, one he cares deeply about, for the last four years,” Coyle said in a statement. “These decisions are difficult and are made after careful consideration and evaluation.”

Johnson, 44, a former Gophers player and assistant coach, was paid an annual salary of $1.95 million, and had two years left on his contract through 2026-2027. He was the lowest paid head coach in the Big Ten this season.

Johnson’s record was 56-71 overall and 22-57 in Big Ten play in four seasons, which included finishing in the lower half in the conference three times. The Gophers were 7-13 in the Big Ten this season, but they finished 12th out of 18 teams.

“The expectation for our program is to compete for championships, and unfortunately, we have not done that in the last four years,” Coyle added.

Johnson’s best record was 19-15 last season to finish ninth in the Big Ten and reach the NIT second round in 2023-24. The Gophers went 9-22 the previous season.

The Gophers lost seven of their last 11 games. After wins at USC and UCLA, Johnson’s team put themselves in danger of missing the Big Ten tournament after consecutive home losses to Northwestern and Penn State.

Even with a newcomer-laden roster, the Gophers’ three-game winning streak in January appeared to be the start of a turnaround that would possibly save Johnson’s job, including ranked wins against Michigan and Oregon.

Before fans stormed the court after the Jan. 25 victory against the No. 15 Ducks, Johnson and Coyle appeared together at the Golden Dunkers pregame event for basketball boosters.

That was seemingly a public sign of support from Coyle of Johnson, who opened the season with an 0-6 Big Ten record. The Gophers also fell to Wichita State, Wake Forest and North Texas in nonconference play. The Nov. 13 loss to North Texas was the first against a non-major conference opponent at home since 2014.

The Gophers had an impressive stretch of winning six of nine games in Big Ten play, but that was mostly on the road. They won five road games, the most since 2016-17. But the struggles at home were glaring with a 10-9 record at Williams Arena this season, including just 2-8 in the Big Ten.

“I think everybody in our program, there were parts of this year where you felt really excited and really proud, and you’re so close,” Johnson said Wednesday. “This was a unique, special group. Then the last couple games, they had the feeling, it’s only a motivator. It’s only a motivator that the standard of where we’re going and what we’re doing, we know exactly what needs to be done.”

Average Gophers men’s basketball home attendance (8,923) was up from last season (8,140) in 19 games, but that was still the worst since 1970-71.

Lacking adequate NIL money contributed to the Gophers losing six players to the portal from 2023-24, including starters Elijah Hawkins and Pharrel Payne to Texas Tech and Texas A&M. Cam Christie also was picked by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft after an All-Big Ten freshman season for the Gophers.

After firing Richard Pitino in March 2021, Coyle made a surprising hire with Johnson, who had no head-coaching experience. Johnson had spent three years as an assistant on Pitino’s staff from 2013-18 and was an Xavier assistant for three seasons before returning to take over his alma mater.

Coyle insisted the outside-the-box hire with Johnson was based on needing to take advantage of the rich talent pool of high school players in Minnesota.

A known local recruiter, Johnson landed three in-state prospects in his first full Gophers recruiting class in 2022 with Pharrel Payne, Braeden Carrington and Joshua Ola-Joseph. But Payne, Carrington (Tulsa) and Ola-Joseph (Cal-Berkeley) transferred out after two seasons.

Former Prior Lake star and McDonald’s All-American Dawson Garcia was the best player to play for Johnson. Garcia, who finished his career with more 2,000 points, transferred home to lead the Gophers in scoring for three seasons after starting his career at Marquette and North Carolina.

Relying on Minnesota prospects again, the Gophers’ 2024 high school class consisted of Isaac Asuma and Grayson Grove. Grove redshirted this season. Asuma was an impactful reserve guard for the Gophers and among the top freshmen in the Big Ten in minutes played.

In the Gophers’ 2023 recruiting class, Johnson signed five-star California center Dennis Evans III, the program’s highest rated recruit in 20 years. But Evans asked out of his letter of intent to the U before going to Louisville and eventually transferring to Grand Canyon.

In November, the Gophers inked a solid class with Parker Jefferson and Jacob Ross from Southern California and Kai Shinholster from Philadelphia. Jefferson was a 6-10, four-star recruit from Inglewood.

But transfer portal additions and losses defined Johnson’s tenure with his ability to build a competitive roster.

Hawkins, the Big Ten assist leader in 2024, was a steal out of Howard. But his shocking transfer to Texas Tech after one year was a huge blow to Johnson. The Gophers also lost former transfer Talon Cooper to South Carolina and DeLaSalle product Jamison Battle to Ohio State in 2023.

Even after a 13-17 record in his first season, Johnson’s original five-year contract was extended a year by Coyle in May 2022. Despite no salary changes, Johnson’s buyout changed to 100% of his remaining base salary if he was fired after Year 3 last season, which was more than $6.4 million.

The contract states that to collect his current buyout, Johnson must seek comparable employment in a timely fashion. If he’s able to find a similar job soon, the university will cease Johnson’s buyout payment at that time.

Speculated potential early candidates to replace Johnson as Gophers coach include Colorado State coach Niko Medved, West Virginia coach Darian DeVries, Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, Drake coach Ben McCollum, former Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders and Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson.

Johnson’s dismissal announcement came at 1:22 a.m. Thursday with Coyle having to fly back early in the morning to be part of the NCAA men’s tournament selection committee meetings.

“This is an extremely desirable job in one of the best conferences and cities in the nation, and we fully expect to compete at the highest level on and off the court,” Coyle added. “We provide a world-class experience for our student-athletes, have one of the best practice facilities in the nation and play games in a historic venue. We offer everything that is needed to be successful, and we will immediately begin a nationwide search for our next men’s basketball coach.”